Akihabara is awesome

It lives up to the hype for me. If anyone says that the Japanese are anti-Xbox then please punch them in the face for me. Xbox gets double the shelf space that Gamecube gets, front displays and there is the Xbox demo exhibit in the middle of the main Akihabara road (near Sofmap and Sega Club) which is constantly packed with people. One girl was on top of a big Xbox podium, expounding just how wonderful 'BURINKSU' is (I got given a Blinx music CD) whilst various Sega/Namco/Koei etc staff provide advice.

I've been in Japan for only 2 days now but already I have visited 5 arcades including the Taito and Sega arcades in Akihabara. The most popular games at the moment are:

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution ver.B
Initial D ver.2
KOF2002
GGXX
VO4
Guitar Freaks 8th Mix
Taiko no Tatsujin

I haven't seen a single DDR machine yet I have seen a dog$tation cab. Shooter wise you're always well catered for. I've seen at least 50 odd machines running a shooter be it Psyvariar, Dai-ou-jou or Shikigami no Shiro. Capcom fighters are still out in force but GGXX is way more popular right now. Garou is about as popular as AIDS.

Today I bought:

Boxed N64
Shindou Wave Race 64
Shindou Mario 64
Sega GT 2002
DOA3
Jojo DC
MVC DC
CVS Pro DC

I won't tell you the price though, they were revolting :) I will say though that the N64 was $20 and DOA3 brand new was $15. Trader 2 had twinsticks for $5!!! This place is so clean, beautiful and other positive adjectives. Too bad food is so expensive.

What, no Deer Hunting arcade games like they have at Wal-Mart? Pshaw!

So Soul Calibur 2 didn't seem popular?

$5 for DC twinsticks? If so, I'd love to pay you for 3 sets, plus shipping/finding fee, if you'd be so kind ^_^

The Soul Calibur 2 machines are constantly deserted despite a healthy number of them. Sega is slaughtering everyone in the arcades with their mahjong, football management and horse betting sims constantly occupied also. HOTD3 is also drawing in MANY onlookers, the pump action shotgun and brand name seem to be doing the trick.

Quote:

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Originally posted by NGEFreek
$5 for DC twinsticks? If so, I'd love to pay you for 3 sets, plus shipping/finding fee, if you'd be so kind ^_^

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No. It's raining right now and that shit is heavy.

Fair enough :)

They were Saturn ones btw and they're probably gone now. I heard someone say 'oi misete, go hyaku en!' just as I was leaving the store.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Sidez
If anyone says that the Japanese are anti-Xbox then please punch them in the face for me. Xbox gets double the shelf space that Gamecube gets, front displays and there is the Xbox demo exhibit in the middle of the main Akihabara road (near Sofmap and Sega Club) which is constantly packed with people.

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Wow. All that shelf space...all those demos...all those people...and it's being outsold by the Wonderswan.

I'll be over here in case you wanna to punch me in the face.

(Oh - I'll give you my kidneys if you find a copy of Yume Penguin Monogotari for Famicom. Or any other internal organs/precious items you might desire.)

Sounds like somebody's having fun. Take some pictures for us if you get a chance.

Damn I wanna go to Japan, wish our trip to Asia hadn't fallen through yet again this year for the umpteenth time :(

Quote:

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Originally posted by Sidez
It lives up to the hype for me. If anyone says that the Japanese are anti-Xbox then please punch them in the face for me. Xbox gets double the shelf space that Gamecube gets, front displays and there is the Xbox demo exhibit in the middle of the main Akihabara road (near Sofmap and Sega Club) which is constantly packed with people. One girl was on top of a big Xbox podium, expounding just how wonderful 'BURINKSU' is (I got given a Blinx music CD) whilst various Sega/Namco/Koei etc staff provide advice.

I've been in Japan for only 2 days now but already I have visited 5 arcades including the Taito and Sega arcades in Akihabara. The most popular games at the moment are:

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution ver.B
Initial D ver.2
KOF2002
GGXX
VO4
Guitar Freaks 8th Mix
Taiko no Tatsujin

I haven't seen a single DDR machine yet I have seen a dog$tation cab. Shooter wise you're always well catered for. I've seen at least 50 odd machines running a shooter be it Psyvariar, Dai-ou-jou or Shikigami no Shiro. Capcom fighters are still out in force but GGXX is way more popular right now. Garou is about as popular as AIDS.

Today I bought:

Boxed N64
Shindou Wave Race 64
Shindou Mario 64
Sega GT 2002
DOA3
Jojo DC
MVC DC
CVS Pro DC

I won't tell you the price though, they were revolting :) I will say though that the N64 was $20 and DOA3 brand new was $15. Trader 2 had twinsticks for $5!!! This place is so clean, beautiful and other positive adjectives. Too bad food is so expensive.

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Some notes:

-Japan residents on another gaming forum keep mentioning that XBOX sales seem to be strongest in Akihabara. And thinking Akihabara = the nation of Japan is about as dumb an assumption as thinking Los Angeles = the United States of America. Tokyo isn't the only major city in that country. XBOX ain't popular in Japan. The sales numbers speak for themselves. Deal with it.

-Soul Calibur 2 is not very well-received in Tokyo arcades. For fighters, it's all about VF4E and GGXX right now, with KoF 2k2 a distant 3rd. I hear Okinawa has a strong SC2 following though, similar to Tulsa, OK.

-Hell with Akihabara, any small neighborhood in Tokyo is game playing and gaming bargain heaven (Teddman, that's no BS).